Definition of "tongue depressor" [tongue depressor]

• A thin blade for pressing down the tongue during a medical examination of the mouth and throat; a spatula. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I will never, ever forget the gagging from the tube, like a tongue depressor at the back of the throat, only a million times worse."
• "Did you stick a tongue depressor in the corpse’s mouth?”"